He has spent about $7,500 to buy his own gear, which includes gloves, a helmet, a pack, climbing boots, a headlamp, sleeping gear including a sleeping bag that can keep him warm in temperatures as cold as negative 20 degrees, trekking poles, and undergarments and fleece outer garments.

There was a completely delightful visage of writers from dapper individuals bedecked in bowtie and hats in jaunty angles to those disheveled ‘deer caught in the headlamp stares’ as newly published authors; hard to fathom that their manuscript had caught the imagination of a publishing house, clambered onto stage to face hundreds of admiring fans.

Other times, though, I can see the appeal of splitting off from society, hopping trains, healing my friends with flower essences, and reading anti-government graphic novels late into the night with my headlamp.